While the name literally translates to “michael and michael” in italian, I take it also as a subtle reference to Italian conceptual artist Alighiero e Boetti (once again, literally, “Alighiero and Boetti”) who figuratively divided himself into two persons between his first and last name.

Alighiero Fabrizio Boetti known as Alighiero e Boetti (16 December 1940 – 24 February 1994) was an Italian conceptual artist, considered to be a member of the art movement Arte Povera. Boetti is most famous for a series of embroidered maps of the world, Mappa, created between 1971 and his death in 1994. Boetti's work was typified by his notion of 'twinning', leading him to add 'e' (and) between his names, 'stimulating a dialectic exchange between these two selves'.

The arcade version had the isometric viewpoint so this is likely where the assets were stolen from.

The Genesis version of Moonwalker is a masterpiece. Great side scrolling action and superb 16-bit renditions of his music. I remember playing the shit out of it. The various sprites and animations were expertly crafted. Yeah, it was ridiculous but still a great title.

Even as a youngster I remember feeling slight unease when the rescued children would exclaim “Michael!” upon being rescued. This was before all of the molestation allegations.